Seven straight points gave the Lady Bucks some breathing room and Dunmore extended that run to 13 in a row in the fourth quarter, winning its seventh district title in eight seasons with a 57-45 win over the Lady Crusaders at Lackawanna College Student Union.

"We just came out with a lot more energy in the second half," said Kayleigh Semion, who hit a pair of huge 3s in the fourth en route to a 16-point effort. "Holy Cross is a great team, so every single possession you have to earn it and work hard every single play."

Mariah Maciejewski started the run with a layup off a feed from Megan Connors. Maddie Martin drove the baseline for a reverse layup, then hit Semion with a long pass, and she buried a right-wing 3, snapping a tie at 38.

But that run wasn't the play that drew the attention of Dunmore coach Ben O'Brien. It was Semion's 3 just before that, erasing Holy Cross' final lead, 38-36.

"It's hard to keep track of what happens, but they hit a 2 and Kayleigh came down and answered in a couple seconds with a big 3," O'Brien said.

It was actually a span of six seconds between a 10-footer from Gabby Giordano, who led Holy Cross with 16, and Semion's 3.

"That was huge," O'Brien said. "It kind of stopped their momentum right there."

Alyssa Alfano scored on a baseline drive to tie the game for the last time. Then Dunmore worked the ball for Maciejewski, who didn't get a shot in the first half but scored 11 on 5 of 6 shooting.

"I thought Holy Cross did a great job defending Mariah and Jill (Korgeski)," O'Brien said. "The second half, we made a more concerted effort to get them the ball, especially Mariah. And our perimeter people did a great job finding her in some tight windows."

Dunmore's run was aided by five fourth-quarter turnovers by the Lady Crusaders, including a pair that helped fuel the 36-second run.

Once Dunmore had the lead, it forced Holy Cross to chase on defense for the final 3½ minutes.

Semion got loose for a feed from Korgeski for a layup, and Martin hit eight free throws over the last 1:30, part of an 11 for 11 effort that helped her lead the way with 17 points.

"My coach has confidence in me," Martin said. "He's trying to get me the ball at the end of the game to shoot those free throws, so that gives me confidence."

Each team had more nerves than confidence in their fourth meeting of the season. For more than half a quarter, it was a 2-1 game before Semion, who was 1 for 11 shooting in the semifinals, opened up, scoring eight in the first quarter as Dunmore opened an 11-5 lead.

"I definitely wasn't happy with myself the other night," Semion said. "I knew I had to come out with a lot of confidence and I just knocked some down."

But Holy Cross, behind Giordano, claimed the lead by halftime, 17-16, as its defense frustrated Dunmore.

"We held them to 16 the first half and I thought we defended well the entire game," Fitzgerald said. "The free throws down the stretch makes it look worse.

"We played hard. We played our hearts out. We defended very, very well."

And held Korgeski and Maciejewski in check until the third, when the duo combined for all 15 points, hitting 7 of 8 shots.

"It's a team sport, so for in order for another person to be open, everyone has to step up in their area," said Korgeski, who scored 10 and hit a pair of mid-range jumpers that forced Holy Cross to stop sagging inside to help on Maciejewski.

"Everyone on our team worked as hard as they could," Korgeski said. "It felt great to step up and hit some shots."

Megan Connors had three of her six assists in the quarter and Semion two as Dunmore worked it high and low to lead, 31-30, after three quarters.

"I was definitely frustrated because I didn't get the ball as much as I wanted to," said Maciejewski. "The second half I knew I had to work harder to get the ball.

"When we all start hitting shots, they can't settle in on one player. They have to watch everybody."

That created enough openings for Dunmore to put together one decisive run that allows it to stay close to home for the first round of states on Friday, likely returning to Lackawanna College to take on the loser of today's District 4 third-place game between Warrior Run and Montoursville.

Holy Cross will be on the road to face Delone Catholic, the District 3 runner-up.

At Scranton, Montrose rallied from eight points down in the fourth quarter to tie the game and pulled away in overtime to win the third-place game and clinch the final spot from District 2 in the Class AA state tournament.

Haylee Bobos scored the final basket of regulation to tie the game for Hanover, then blocked two potential game-winning shots.

But Kourtney Snigar had two big buckets in the extra period to pace the Lady Meteors, who were paced by 16 points apiece from Myra Lattimore and Meghan Gilhool.

Montrose will be on the road on Friday to play the District 4 champ, the winner of today's Central Columbia-Mount Carmel game.

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